Abstract
BackgroundSocial media platforms such as Twitter can serve as a potential data source for public health research to characterize the social neighborhood environment. Few studies have linked Twitter-derived characteristics to individual-level health outcomes.ObjectiveThis study aims to assess the association between Twitter-derived social neighborhood characteristics, including happiness, food, and physical activity mentions, with individual cardiometabolic outcomes using a nationally representative sample.MethodsWe collected a random 1% of the geotagged tweets from April 2015 to March 2016 using Twitter’s Streaming Application Interface (API). Twitter-derived zip code characteristics on happiness, food, and physical activity were merged to individual outcomes from restricted-use National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) with residential zip codes. Separate regression analyses were performed for each of the neighborhood characteristics using NHANES 2011-2016 and 2007-2016.ResultsIndividuals living in the zip codes with the two highest tertiles of happy tweets reported BMI of 0.65 (95% CI –1.10 to –0.20) and 0.85 kg/m2 (95% CI –1.48 to –0.21) lower than those living in zip codes with the lowest frequency of happy tweets. Happy tweets were also associated with a 6%-8% lower prevalence of hypertension. A higher prevalence of healthy food tweets was linked with an 11% (95% CI 2% to 21%) lower prevalence of obesity. Those living in areas with the highest and medium tertiles of physical activity tweets were associated with a lower prevalence of hypertension by 10% (95% CI 4% to 15%) and 8% (95% CI 2% to 14%), respectively.ConclusionsTwitter-derived social neighborhood characteristics were associated with individual-level obesity and hypertension in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Twitter data could be used for capturing neighborhood sociocultural influences on chronic conditions and may be used as a platform for chronic outcomes prevention.
Highlights
The neighborhood environment has been recognized as an important determinant of health
We assessed the associations between the Twitter-derived characteristics and cardiometabolic outcomes, including obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, using a nationally representative sample from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
Comparing individuals living in the medium and the highest to the lowest level of happy tweets, mean BMI decreased by 0.65 kg/m2 and 0.85 kg/m2, respectively
Summary
The neighborhood environment has been recognized as an important determinant of health. We hypothesized that people living in zip codes with high levels of Twitter-derived neighborhood happiness, healthy diet, and physical activity have lower mean BMI and lower prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, respectively. Social media platforms such as Twitter can serve as a potential data source for public health research to characterize the social neighborhood environment. Objective: This study aims to assess the association between Twitter-derived social neighborhood characteristics, including happiness, food, and physical activity mentions, with individual cardiometabolic outcomes using a nationally representative sample. Twitter data could be used for capturing neighborhood sociocultural influences on chronic conditions and may be used as a platform for chronic outcomes prevention
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